Code Lyoko Adventures
by AlphaMike369
Summary: This fic will consist of different events for the Lyoko warriors. There will be moments outside of XANA attacks that will mostly focus on Jeremy and Aelita, but there will be some about the others. I will also include original XANA attacks and episode from the show with ranging alterations from minor to major. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1 The Question

A/N: Welcome all! To my first non-Naruto fic! This is for the show Code Lyoko. Sorry for those waiting for my other stories. I just couldn't get this out of my head. I started rewatching this show, then I looked for some fics for it. And this idea would not leave my head. So I decided to start writing it down so I can get the gears running for my Shy Naruto and Runaways fics. So without further ado, the adventures of the Lyoko warriors begins!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko either.

Chapter 1: The Question

Jeremy Belpois was in his dorm working at his computer late at night. On the screen was his best friend, Aelita, as well as his work on the program he was developing. "Alright, I think I've finally got it!"

"That's great Jeremy," Aelita said. "Do you really think the materialization program will finally work this time?"

"I hope so. Then we can finally meet each other in the flesh."

"And stop XANA for good," she added. "I'm so excited! I can finally live in your world!"

Jeremy smiled. He'd been looking forward to this for almost a year. He remember the day they met. He had gone to the nearby factory looking for parts for his mini robots when found a supercomputer and started up the mainframe. And when he got to the keyboard and started seeing what was on it, he met Aelita, a form of AI with no memory of who she was, who had been slumbering in a virtual world called Lyoko. Their friendship began, with Jeremy promising to materialize her into the real world. And it wasn't long before he made some more friends. Ulrich Stern, Odd Della Robbia, and Yumi Ishiyama. All of them became close friends who could count on one another.

But that wasn't all that happened. Another AI, called XANA, had awakened as well. XANA would activate one of the many towers in Lyoko in order to cause mayhem in the real world. In order to stop him, Jeremy had to virtualize Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich into Lyoko so they could escort Aelita to the activated tower so she could shut it down. And it wasn't easy. XANA would send monsters of different shapes and sizes to thwart them. Worst was while Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi could be safely devirtualized if they lost all their life points, the same could not be said for Aelita. If all her life points were gone, she'd be gone, forever. There was another problem as well. While the supercomputer had a time reversal feature, it could not bring the dead back. So if someone died from one of XANA's attacks, then even with the return to the past, they were gone for good. Thus, their adventures were often a race against time.

It was only another reason for Jeremy to finish the materialization program. Once Aelita was in the real world, they could shut the supercomputer off and stop XANA for good. Jeremy worked day and night whenever he could, sometimes forgoing food and sleep. His previous attempts had failed.

And now he believed he had finally done it. "Alright, here goes nothing. I'm starting the test now Aelita. Here we go!" Jeremy ran the program and though he wasn't religious, he prayed to whoever was listening that the program would work this time. Unfortunately, his prayers went unheard as a red exclamation point appeared on his screen, indicating that he had failed once again. "Damn it! Not again!" Jeremy shouted as he banged his desk.

"Don't worry Jeremy. You'll get it," Aelita assured him.

"I don't know," Jeremy said, his head down. "Every time I think I've got it… It's just getting harder to stay optimistic after so many failed attempts."

"Jeremy, looked at me." Jeremy lifted his head and looked at Aelita's face on the screen. She couldn't deny she was disappointed that it failed, but she didn't lose a bit of hope. "I know you'll do it one day. I have complete faith in you."

"Thanks Aelita. I promise, I will free you," Jeremy said with renewed determination.

"I look forward to that day."

"I guess I should start working on a new materialization program right now," Jeremy said as he prepared to start.

"No," Aelita said shaking her head. "You need sleep. My studies about your world revealed that lack of sleep can cause serious problems to your health. We can try again another time."

Jeremy sighed. All of his friends were telling him he need to sleep more. He couldn't deny that it was getting harder to stay awake in class, nor the bags that were forming around his eyes. "Fine. Goodnight then."

"Wait," Aelita said before Jeremy could cut the connection. She seemed nervous, which he found odd. "Before you go to bed, could I ask you something? Something I've been wondering about for a while?"

"Of course. You can always ask me anything," he assured her.

Aelita smiled. "Ok, well, can you tell me about love?"

Jeremy was taken aback. "W-what was that?"

"I was asking about love. In my research into your world, there are many mentions of love, and you and Odd have mentioned how Ulrich and Yumi are in love. It's gotten me curious," Aelita explained. "You'll help me, right?"

Jeremy couldn't help but blush a little. "Well, I'm not an expert on the subject, so I don't think I'll be much help."

"Anything help you can give is fine," Aelita told him.

Looking at her. Jeremy gave in. It was difficult for him to refuse her. "Well, how can I say this?" Jeremy asked himself as he scratched the back of his head. "There are… different kinds of love. There's familial love. It's the love you have for your family."

"Like how a mother loves her son."

"Exactly, and vice versa."

"It'd be nice have one," Aelita said quietly, but Jeremy heard her.

"Moving on," he said, hoping to take her mind off that. "There's also the friendly kind that exist in close friendships, and the last one, um, well it's a bit, err, tricky." Jeremy paused, wondering how best to explain it. "It's a really special kind of bond, often between a male and female."

"Often?"

"There are… exceptions." Jeremy said, remembering one of his old neighbors back home. "As far as I know, when someone is in love, they get this feeling that is usually a result of special relationships."

"You mean the ones that involve kissing and uses the terms 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'?" Jeremy blushed but nodded. "But what do you mean when you say it's a result of those relationships?"

"Well, normally a couple isn't in love until they reach a stage in their relationship. In fact it's rare for two people to go into a relationship already in love with each other. Some relationships start in the hopes of eventually evolving into love and some just start because, well to be honest, I don't really get it myself. I've seen Odd date a few girls and he's freely admitted that most of those relationships were mere flings. Like I said, I don't really understand. I think Yumi would be better at this," Jeremy offered.

"You're doing a great job so far Jeremy," Aelita assured him. "I think I'm starting to get it, so please continue."

"If you say so," Jeremy said, not entirely convinced that he was explaining it right. "Anyway, it's not often a person ends up with their first love. Sometimes it's because that love turns out to be nothing more than a crush. A simply attraction that doesn't last."

"How can one tell the difference?"

"I don't know. I guess time helps you learn the difference, I think. Honestly, I'm just going by what I've seen. I don't know what it feels like. Although, if how Yumi and Ulrich act are any indication, I guess people in love tend to get jealous often."

"So I've heard." Aelita said. Both Jeremy and Odd told her about how whenever Ulrich was around another girl, it bothered Yumi. The same happened to Ulrich when Yumi hung around other boys outside the group. "What about you Jeremy?"

"Huh? What about me?"

"Is there… a girl you're attracted to?" Aelita asked hesitantly, though she wasn't sure why.

Jeremy blushed. "Um, w-well, n-none of the girls here at Kadic really my type," Jeremy answered, hoping it would satisfy her sudden curiosity.

"Really?" she said. She didn't understand why she felt a hint of relief and scolded herself for it. Jeremy deserved to meet a nice girl he could one day love. He was a great guy.

Meanwhile, Jeremy tried to hide his relief that she wasn't prying anymore. He didn't want to tell her she had pecked his interest. Things would start to get weird between them if she didn't feel the same. Also, he assumed the reason was that he was really looking forward to materializing a program like her. "W-well, it's getting real late. It's… Oh wow! Almost 3!" Jeremy exclaimed as he looked at his alarm clock before yawning. "Guess I really should sleep."

"Yeah. Thank you Jeremy. I've got a better idea now. Do me a favor though?" Aelita asked.

"Of course. Anything."

"Eat all you meals tomorrow, then make sure you spend the night asleep. No working on materialization until you're completely refreshed," Aelita told him. She didn't want his health to fail because he spent all his time trying to help her. "I can wait."

"But…" Jeremy tried to argue but Aelita wouldn't hear of it. "Fine. But I'm gonna start retrying as soon as I can afterwards."

"Thank you Jeremy. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Aelita. Pleasant dreams."

"Can't. I don't sleep, so I can't dream, remember?"

"Oh, my bad," Jeremy said.

"No problem. I'll be sure to have some nice dreams once I'm human. And maybe one day you'll tell me about yours." Jeremy doubted that. There was no way he was going to tell her about his recent dreams, the ones with her in them. They ended the connection and Jeremy switch off his computer and went to sleep.

Meanwhile, inside one of the towers in Lyoko, Aelita continued her research. ' _There are so many wonderful things in the real world! I can't wait! To be able to feel, smell, and taste. I'm sure Odd will enjoy showing me why he loves food so much, if he leaves any for me that is,'_ she thought with a giggle. ' _And me and Yumi can finally have some girl time, one that doesn't involve monsters trying to devirtualize us. And give Ulrich some tutoring. From what I've heard, he needs some help.'_ Aelita couldn't wait to spend time with her friends, especially Jeremy. Living on Lyoko was lonely. The only other inhabitants of the virtual world were XANA's monsters, and they weren't exactly friendly. And when her friends were virtualized, there wasn't anytime to hangout because that had to stop whatever XANA had planned and then they left. The moments when Jeremy connected to her through his computer were her only real escape from the isolation. Sometimes one or more of the others were with him, but most of the time it was just him and her. They would either work together on the materialization program, or just talk, growing closer with each session. ' _It'll be nice to be there in person. I can find out why his cheeks change color. And do all the things I want to do in the real world and more with Jeremy. Go to the beach, see movies, and simple things. Like touching him, holding him, ki-'_ She stopped her thoughts and shook her head. _'No, I can't do that. We'd have to be dating. At least according to my studies. Still, I think a light peck on the cheek from time to time would be acceptable between friends.'_ She started musing about what her new life will be like. _'Maybe I can experience what love is once I'm out of here_ _.'_

* * *

Alpha: Short, but I think I did well. Next chapter will feature the Lyoko warriors fighting off one of XANA's attacks. An original one.

Odd: You know what would make this story a real hit? If you left out Sissi.

Sissi: Please. If anything, this fic should be more about me! With Ulrich of course. (She bats her eyelashes at Ulrich)

Ulrich: Um, how about no.

Sissi: Oh don't play hard to get, Ulrich dear.

Ulrich: Then how about I play impossible to get? (Odd laughs)

Sissi: Hmph! So stubborn!

Herb: Um, Sissi? I think it would be nice if you and I...

Sissi: Not a chance Herb! (Herb sighs)

Ulrich: Come on Odd. Let's get outta here and meet up with the others.

Sissi: Wait for me Ulrich. (She runs after him)


	2. Chapter 2 Shock to the Heart

A/N: Here's the next chapter of my story. This chapter is set between episode 23 and 24.

Chapter 2: Shock To the Heart

"Hey Einstein!" Odd yelled as he knocked on Jeremy's door, Ulrich next to him. "Hurry up! It's pancakes for breakfast in the cafeteria! Unless you're gonna spend the morning on your computer, again in which case, can I have your portion?" he asked.

"Sorry Odd. Aelita made me promise to eat breakfast again," Jeremy answered from behind the door. It had been two months since Aelita first made him promise to put some time into eating and sleeping. Since then, he's been eating more and getting more sleep, though he still would rather spend the time working on bringing Aelita to the real world. "I need to put my phone to charge and finish getting dressed, then I'll be out."

Odd looked disappointed, which amused Ulrich. "I'll never understand how someone with your appetite can be so scrawny."

"I'm not scrawny. I'm svelte," Odd corrected. The door opened and Jeremy walked out. "Finally, I'm starved!" The three walked to the cafeteria.

"So how the materialization program going Jeremy?"

"Slow, but I think I'm close." He proceeded to explain what he had accomplished so far and what he still had trouble on, not that Odd and Ulrich understood any of it.

"Anyway to translate that into English?" Odd asked.

Jeremy sighed. "The short and simple version is I solved a lot of problems but there are still a few more I have to deal with, so it'll just be a little longer. So until then, we need to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, in case XANA attacks."

"At least you're finally eating, and sleeping more by the looks of it," Ulrich commented, noting less bags under the young genius's eyes.

"Yeah, the only bad thing about that is less food for me," Odd added.

"And considering how scrawny you are, you may need the food more than I do," Jeremy joked.

I am svelte!" Odd shouted, making his friends laugh.

* * *

In a desert area, there stood a tall tower with a blue glow to it. But the color soon turned red.

* * *

In Jeremy's phone laid on his desk, connected to his charger. Suddenly, the nearby outlet sparked and released a sort of shadowy specter. The specter travel to the phone and entered it. The phone shook a bit, before settling, the Eye of XANA appearing briefly on the small screen.

* * *

"And the duck said, 'Put it on my bill!' Ha!" Odd started cracking up at his bad joke while Jeremy and Ulrich groaned.

"Don't you know any good joke?" Ulrich asked.

"You guys just have no sense of humor." Odd looked over Ulrich's shoulder. "Don't look now but your lady love has arrived."

Ulrich turned to see Yumi talking with one of her classmates and started blushing. "I-it's not like that with us!" Ulrich insisted.

"Then why did you stutter?" Jeremy asked with a smirk matching Odd's.

"Not you too Jeremy." Ulrich complained, turning more red.

"Hey guys," Yumi said as she approached. She noticed Ulrich was blushing. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," he insisted before sending a glare to the other boys, which didn't faze them at all.

"Ok?" Yumi said, unsure of what was going on. "Anyway, what's been going on?"

Odd answered her. "Aelita did it again. Einstein actually spent breakfast with us."

"She's a miracle worker," Ulrich joked.

"I don't skip breakfast that much!" Jeremy insisted.

"Yeah, because of Aelita," Ulrich pointed out. "I wonder what she does to convince you."

"She doesn't do anything!"

"Really? No promises of what she'll do to you once she's out of Lyoko?" Odd asked with a smirk.

"No!" Jeremy said with a blush. "She just… Well, she's just very convincing alright! There are no promises of that kind or anything."

"Then she really is a miracle worker," Yumi commented. The bell rang. "Well, I've got French. See ya guys." Yumi ran off to her class.

"Come on, we've got P.E. with GI Jim," Ulrich said.

"Um, can you guys cover for me?" Jeremy asked.

"Jim's not gonna be happy you're missing P.E. again," Odd warned.

"I know, but I want to get some more work done on Aelita's materialization program."

"And avoid another humiliating gym lesson," Odd said with a chuckle. Ulrich cracked a smile as he remember the last time Jeremy went to P.E. "Don't worry Einstein, we've got you covered."

"Thanks." Jeremy ran off to the dorms.

* * *

"Hello? Aelita? Can you hear me?" Jeremy asked as he adjusted the earpiece.

"Yes Jeremy, I'm here." Aelita answered as she appeared on the screen. "How was breakfast?"

"Alright. Odd was disappoint that he wasn't gonna get my portion though," Jeremy told her.

"Remind me, Odd's appetite is unusual, right?" Aelita asked.

"You'd be hardpressed finding anything about Odd that isn't unusual." The two laughed. "So, ready to get to work?"

"Shouldn't you be in class?" she inquired.

"It's only gym. Odd and Ulrich are covering for me. And my grades in my other classes will make up for it."

"Well, give me a second. The Forest Sector is calm but I want to check other ones, see if there are any pulsations. I'm at a way tower about to head toward the Desert Sector."

"Got it. Standing by." Jeremy waited as Aelita used the way tower to travel. Suddenly his phone rang. "Hmm?" He unplugged his phone and checked the number, but he didn't recognize it. ' _Wonder who it could be.'_ "Hello?" he asked as he put the phone to his ear. The answer came in the form of a strong electrical shock that surged through his body. Jeremy cried out in pain and clutched his chest before falling to the ground unconscious.

* * *

"Jeremy," Aelita called out. "I've arrived at the Desert Sector, and I can sense pulsations from an activated tower! XANA's launching an attack!" She waited for Jeremy to respond, but heard nothing. "Jeremy?" she called again with worry in her voice. "Jeremy please answer!" Still no response. "Jeremy!"

* * *

Jim moved down the hall. His class had ended and now he was headed to the dorm of Jeremy Belpois.

" _He got a something real bad, Jim."_ Della Robbia had told him. " _He's, uh, been having muscle spasms. Yeah. Nurse Yolanda said he needed to rest in his room until they go away.'_

' _What do they take me for, an idiot? Belpois is most likely hiding in his room.'_ Jim sighed and shook his head. ' _I bet he's working on whatever plot he and his little gang of troublemakers have been plotting. And one day, I'll find out what it is.'_ He reached Jeremy's room. "Belpois! I know you're in there! Get outta there! The dorms are off limits during the day and I know you're not sick like your friends Stern and Della Robbia claim." No answer. Jim banged his fist against the door. "Open up this instant or I'm coming in!" he threatened. He waited about a minute before reaching for the key ring at his side. As the monitor for the boys dorm, he had a key for each of the rooms. Unlocking the door, he barged right in. "Belpois, you…" He didn't finish as he saw Jeremy on the ground. He was twitching erratically and a strained look on his face, but didn't look conscious. Jim kneeled down next to him, his face showing worry. "This looks serious. I guess your friends were telling the truth. I'll take you to the infirmary." He picked Jeremy up and ran off.

* * *

"Where's Jeremy?" Yumi asked as she joined her friends in the cafeteria.

"Einstein skipped class to spend time with his virtual love," Odd said with a snicker.

"That sounds like him," Yumi commented. "So, how are you Ulrich?"

"Well, I'm certain to pass gym. Science, math, history, not so much. My dad's gonna give me a lot of grief when he finds out."

"I know what you mean. Because of all these XANA attacks, my grades have been slipping and my parents are getting worried."

"Hope Jeremy finishes materializing Aelita soon so we can finally end this."

"I don't know," Odd commented. "I like being a hero. And blasting XANA's monsters is a lot of fun."

"Hey, you guys hear sirens?" Ulrich asked. The other perked their ears and they heard it too. Some of the students started to leave out of curiosity. The three Lyoko warriors followed and saw an ambulance. They pushed through the crowd in time to see paramedics load Jeremy in it.

"Oh god, Jeremy!" Yumi exclaimed as she and the others rushed to Jim and the principal Mr. Delmas. "What happened?"

"He got a bad electrical shock," Mr. Delmas explained. "Jim found him unconscious in his room, twitching uncontrollably. He took him to Yolanda, who found electrical burns."

The three Lyoko warriors looked at each other and had the same though. ' _XANA.'_

"Unfortunately, there's more," Delmas continued. "The electrical shock seems to have damaged Jeremy's heart, lowering his heart rate."

"What?" Ulrich said.

"Jeremy's heart is slowing down and if something isn't done, it'll stop altogether. But not to worry, the doctors will do all they can for him."

"Don't worry too much. He'll be fine," Jim assured them. "I was electrocuted once. When I was struck by lightning, and I ended up fine."

"You were struck by lightning?" Mr. Delmas asked in surprise.

"Yeah, but I'd rather not talk about it. Mostly because I can't remember much about it."

The ambulance doors closed and it drove away, taking Jeremy with it. The crowd started to disperse, but Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were already rushing to the factory. "No doubt about it. XANA's behind this," Yumi said.

"We need to hurry! Before Jeremy's heart stops!" Odd and Yumi agreed. They skated through the sewers and arrived at the factory.

Taking the elevator down, they arrived at the lab. Yumi sat down and picked up the earpiece. "Aelita? Aelita, can you hear me?"

"Yumi?" Aelita's voice came. "Where's Jeremy?"

"In trouble. XANA attacked him earlier. We need to deactivate the tower and launch a Return to the Past."

"Right. I'm already near the tower, but XANA has it well-guarded. I see four Bloks patrolling the area. I'll help you lock onto my coordinates and virtualize Odd and Ulrich."

"Got it." Yumi turned her attention to the boys. "You two, head to the scanners."

"Roger that!" Odd said as the elevator doors closed. Once they arrived at the floor below, they stepped into the scanners.

"Ok you two, looking like you're headed to the Desert Sector." Yumi started typing in the commands, following Aelita's instructions. "Transfer: Ulrich. Transfer: Odd." The scanner doors closed. "Scanner: Ulrich. Scanner: Odd." She hit the final key. "Virtualization!"

* * *

The two of them appeared in the air briefly before a short drop to the ground. Aelita waved that them and joined her behind a large boulder. "The tower is over there." She pointed at the red tower in a canyon surrounded by blocks on legs with the Eye of XANA symbol on each side.

"Bloks huh? I love those guys! Always fun to beat," Odd commented.

"Just wait here princess. We'll be done in no time." Ulrich drew his katana. Aelita nodded and stayed hidden behind the boulder while Ulrich and Odd engaged them.

Once the Bloks saw them, they opened fire on the two Lyoko warriors. Odd started jumping around to avoid the lasers while Ulrich blocked with his blade. "Laser Arrow!" Odd shouted as he launched an arrowhead from his over-sized pawed gloves. The arrow hit the upper corner of the Blok, who retaliated with a barrage of lasers, one of which hit Odd in the shoulder. Odd launched two more laser arrows that actually hit the Eye of XANA symbol on the front side. The Blok's head spun before it exploded and disappeared. "One down."

Ulrich kept blocking the lasers being shot at him. "Super Sprint!" Using a brief break in attacks, Ulrich used his enhanced speed to close the gap, dodging as he did. He jumped on top of one of the Bloks. "Impact!" He jabbed his sword into the Eye of XANA symbol on the Blok and jumped off as it blew up.

* * *

"Heart rate at 30 and dropping!" one of the medics said as Jeremy was rushed into the hospital.

* * *

"Laser Arrow!" Odd shot three more times, but missed the Blok he was aiming for. Ulrich was held up as the other Blok was sending a large barrage of laser fire his way. He blocked most of the, but two made their way past his guard and he was knocked back.

"Ulrich, according to this you've lost 30 life points!" Yumi's voice seemed to come from nowhere.

"Still got 70 points left."

"Wow, you can do basic math!" Odd said with fake shock.

"Ha ha, very funny," Ulrich said sarcastically as he ducked under an ice beam.

"Hurry! Jeremy's heart may stop at any moment!" Yumi shouted at them.

"What!" Aelita shouted from her hiding space.

"Don't worry princess. He'll be alright. We'll make sure of it," Ulrich assured as he threw his sword at the Blok and destroyed it. "Right Odd?"

"No sweat!" Odd nimbly avoided the last Blok's lasers and shot it at point blank. "All-clear princess. Do your thing."

"Alright." Aelita ran out into the open toward the tower. However, when she was halfway there, she was shot by a laser and knocked down.

"Aelita!" Odd and Ulrich shouted as they rushed to her side and looked up. Up on the ridge at the top of the canyon they saw two Krabs, one on each side.

"Yumi, why didn't you warn us about the Krabs?" Ulrich asked as he started deflecting their lasers.

"Hey, I'm not Jeremy! I barely know how to work this thing!" she shot back. "Odd, remember to conserve your ammo! I don't know how to reload your arrows."

"Now you tell me," Odd said, having just shot off two more arrows after taking cover with Aelita. "How many arrows do I have left?"

"Um, let me see. Two. You have two arrows left."

"For a guy like me, that's plenty!" Odd boasted. Looking to the canyon, he started climbing up. Unfortunately, he was halfway up when one of the Krabs saw this and opened fire on him. Odd got shot in the back and lost his grip but managed to grab a lower ledge. It was slow going since Odd had to dodge the Krab's lasers, but he managed to reach the top and the other Krab. The first Krab ceased it's fire and focused on Ulrich while the one near Odd backed away in order to shoot him. But Odd didn't let him as he quickly got under him. "Ha! Can't get me now!" Odd was about to maneuver himself on top of the Krab when the underside opened up and a pulse beam devirtualized him.

* * *

Odd leaned against the wall of the scanner. "Guess he could get me."

* * *

"Heart rate at 15 and dropping!"

"Nothing's working!"

"It doesn't make any sense! It's like something in his body is actively resisting everything we try!"

* * *

"Ulrich, Odd's been devirtualized," Yumi informed him.

"Great," he remarked sarcastically as he deflected more laser fire. The two Krabs were both shooting at him and sometimes a laser got past his guard.

"Hurry! I don't know how much time we have left!"

"These Krabs won't let up!"

"Yumi, is the Return to the Past ready?' Aelita asked.

"Yeah, I followed your instructions and it's all set up. As soon as the tower is deactivated, we can go back."

"Good. I'll make a break for the tower."

"What! Aelita, it's too dangerous!"

"You said it yourself. We don't know how long Jeremy has. We have to save him and right now, this is the only way," she argued.

She heard Yumi sigh. "Ok, fine," she begrudgingly agreed. "Ulrich, Aelita's gonna make a run for the tower. Cover her as best you can!"

"On it." He sprinted over to the boulder Aelita was taking cover behind. "Ready princess?"

"Yeah," she replied with a nod and the two rushed to the two rushed to the tower, with Ulrich ahead of Aelita. The Krabs opened fire and Ulrich used his sword to do what he could to keep Aelita from being hit. The Krabs weren't letting up and Ulrich was shot in the head and devirtualized. Aelita just kept running toward the tower, but the Krabs weren't making it easy. Ducking and jumping over lasers, she finally made it to the activated tower. The Krabs stomped in frustration and left.

She walked to the center of the platform, then levitated to the the second platform above, where an interface was located. She put her hand on it and her name flashed on the screen before being replaced by the word 'CODE'.

* * *

"He's flatlining!"

* * *

Aelita typed 'LYOKO'. "Tower deactivated."

Yumi hit a key, Odd and Ulrich next to her. "Return to the Past, now." A white light enveloped everything.

* * *

Aelita sat in the tower she just deactivated. The Return to the Past didn't affect Lyoko. "Jeremy?" she called out as she connected with his computer. It was morning again in the real world, before XANA's attack on Jeremy. Which meant he should be alright. However, there was no answer. ' _Was I too late? Is Jeremy…'_ Aelita brought her head to her knees as despair washed over her. She wanted to cry, though she couldn't. "Jeremy," she whispered.

"You called princess?"

Aelita's head went up. "Jeremy? Is that you?"

* * *

"Yeah, it's me Aelita," Jeremy answered. Aelita popped into his computer screen. "Yumi called and told me what happened. Sorry to worry you."

"I'm just glad you're alright," she responded. "You are alright, aren't you? How's your heart?"

"Still beating, unless I'm a zombie."

Aelita chuckled at his attempt at humor. "Leave the bad jokes to Odd, ok?"

"My bad," Jeremy said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But seriously," Aelita said with a sad look on her face. "I was really worried. And for a moment, I thought… I thought I had lost you. And it hurt, a lot. Not physically. That's impossible here, but… I can't really describe it."

"I know what you mean, Aelita," Jeremy said with his head down. "When I screwed up the materialization program and you got devirtualized, I felt the same way."

"You're not still blaming yourself for that, are you?" Aelita asked. His silence was all the answer she need. "Jeremy, it wasn't your fault. How could you have known I'd get bugged up? Something like that has yet to be attempted. Mistakes are bound to happen."

"But that mistake nearly cost you your life," he argued.

"Nearly, but you managed to fix it and bring me back," she reminded him. "Now go get breakfast."

"I'm fine, I can work on materializing you."

"But you promised, remember?" Jeremy looked at her confused. "Because of the Return to the Past, it's still the morning you promised to eat breakfast."

Jeremy realised she was right. Sighing, he conceded. "Fine." He looked at his clock. "Well I guess Odd should be banging on my door any second now."

"See you later Jeremy." The connection cut, Jeremy got ready for breakfast again.

* * *

Aelita smiled, glad to know Jeremy was alright. She still wondered about that feeling earlier though. It was never like that. Even when Yumi fell into the Digital Sea, while she was greatly saddened, it didn't feel as intense. ' _Maybe it's because me and Jeremy are closer? I mean, I don't exactly get to spend time alone with her or the others. Even on Lyoko, Jeremy is looking out for us from the lab, warning us of incoming monsters and helping any way he can. I guess it's just natural that I'm more attached to him than the others.'_

* * *

Odd closed the door before Jeremy turned around after speaking with Aelita. "What do ya know? Einstien wasn't lying. I'm feeling a little disappointed."

"Really?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah, and worse, I won't get his potion again."

"Your a bottomless pit."

"Thank you," Odd said. "I wonder if Yumi has that power over you?"

Ulrich blushed. "Would you stop saying stuff like that!"

"Don't deny it. You love her," Odd mocked.

"That's none of your business!" Ulrich blushed harder.

"See, you didn't deny it. I gotta get this to Milly. She'd love this scoop. And maybe if Yumi read this in the paper..."

"Odd, don't you dare!" Odd flashed a mischievous smile before running off. "Odd!"

Jeremy look out his door and saw Odd round the corner with Ulrich chasing him. He shrugged his shoulders and got out, heading for the cafeteria.

* * *

Alpha: Another chapter finished.

Sissi: Finally! Let me use the computer!

Alpha: For what?

Sissi: To find a story that's actually interesting.

Alpha: Hey! My story is great!

Sissi: Yeah, not really.

Odd: She's just upset that she and Ulrich aren't gonna be together.

Alpha: Whatever. No Sissi you can't use my computer.

Sissi: Why not?

Alpha: Besides the fact that you insulted my work, I've got other stories to work on.

Sissi: Hmph! Fine! I'll just borrow Daddy's! (Storms off)


	3. Chapter 3 Materialization Aelita

A/N: The next chapter! A moment I'm sure you were waiting for.

Chapter 3: Materialization Aelita

Finally. After over a year of slaving over the computer, Jeremy finally finished a working materialization program to bring Aelita into the real world! Everything else was set up. Yumi convinced her parents to let her stay at their place with the pretense that she was Yumi's pen pal. Odd and Ulrich registered her to the school under the alias that she was Odd's cousin. And Jeremy had forged her documents. The look on Aelita's face when they told her he finally got the program to work was forever implanted in Jeremy's memory. She was so happy and excited. He couldn't wait to see that face in the flesh. Now the blond genius sat in the chair at the lab. He had just virtualized the others into the Forest Sector to help Aelita get to the passage tower. He grabbed the CD with the program and inserted it into the supercomputer. "Alright, I'm gonna launch the materialization program immediately, so we'll be ready as soon as Aelita is in the tower." ' _I can't believe it. Soon Aelita will be here in the flesh! Just like I always…'_

"Break! Break dance!"

' _What the…'_

"Break! Break! Break dance!"

Jeremy face palmed. On the screen wasn't all the calculations and codes he had done, but a music video Odd made of the song he created. "Aw man! You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Something wrong?" Yumi asked.

"I grabbed the wrong CD! It's Odd's dumb video. I need to go back into my room and grab the right one."

"Got it. We'll make sure princess here gets to the tower," Ulrich told him. Jeremy put down the earpiece and ran back to Kadic.

* * *

Ulrich turned to Odd. "I didn't know you made a video."

"Yeah, it's great. It goes like this. 'Break! Break! Break dance!" Odd started singing while dancing. Aelita giggled and and even Ulrich couldn't help but chuckle.

"If you're done," Yumi interrupted, "we've got some monsters be beat."

"You're such a spoil sport," Odd said, stopping his little dance. "They're just Bloks and there are only three of them, one for each us."

"Personally, I feel insulted," Ulrich added before turning to Aelita. "Stay here princess. We'll clear the way." Aelita nodded and hid behind one of the large tree roots.

"Time to clean up. Ready boys?" Yumi asked.

"Yes ma'am!" Both replied, giving a mock salute. She rolled her eyes and started down one path while Odd and Ulrich took the other. Once the three Bloks caught sight of them they opened fire. Ulrich deflected with his saber while Odd and Yumi jumped into the air. Yumi took out one with her fans while Odd shot an arrow at the other, taking it out as well. The last one Ulrich defeated with a horizontal slash.

"Too easy," Odd commented.

"Let's hurry before XANA decides to make things difficult," Yumi responded. "Aelita, the way is clear!"

Aelita left her hiding spot and ran into the tower, with the other Lyoko warriors following her in.

* * *

Jeremy entered his room and grabbed the case with the right disc. He left his room and shut the door, only to turn and find Jim blocking the way. "Playing hooky, eh?"

"Uh, hooky? Me? N-no. I just, uh, left something in my room. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to class." He tried to step around Jim, but the P.E. teacher moved to intercept.

"Oh no. You're gonna tell me exactly what you and your friends have been plotting since the beginning of the year! And this time, the principal isn't here to bail you out." They stared at each other for a little bit before Jeremy started trying to get around him. Trying to fake him out, the blond succeeded in passing the teacher. "Belpois! Get back here!" Jeremy ignored him and ran down the stairs. Jim continued to order him to stop. But soon, Jeremy slipped and fell down the stairs. "Jeremy!" Jim shouted, this time with concern.

Determined to get back to the factory, Jeremy got up to run, only to fall back down. "Ah, my ankle!" he cried out, drawing the attention of nearby students.

"Oh my god!"

"Are you crazy Jim?"

"Look at what you did!"

Jim looked at Jeremy clutching his leg, guilt eating away at him. ' _What have I done?'_

* * *

"Hey guys. I have a question," Aelita said.

"Hmm? What is it?" Yumi asked.

"Well, I've always been curious about sleep. Tell me, is it normal to talk while doing so?"

"Uh, no," Yumi answered

"Huh, cause one time I connected to Jeremy's computer late at night. I hadn't checked the time so I thought it was morning. I was glad to find Jeremy was keeping his promise to me, but I was confused when I heard him speaking."

Ulrich covered his mouth in a poor attempt to hide his laughter. The others looked at him funny. "I slept over in his room one time," he explained. "Well, actually I didn't really sleep 'cause he was being loud. So I know what she heard."

"Yes, I remember he kept calling out my name." Now the other two started snickering as well. Aelita looked at them strangely. "What's so funny? Does that mean something?"

"Just that he dreams of you," Yumi answered as she composed herself.

"Oh, well, that makes me happy."

"Really?" Odd asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. It's nice that he cares a lot about me despite being only a program," she responded, smiling sadly.

"Hey, you're not just a program," Yumi assured her. "You're our friend."

"Yeah. In our eyes, you're already human," Ulrich told her.

"Einstein's just giving you the body to look the part," Odd added.

Aelita smiled. "Thanks guys. I can't wait to spend time with you out there."

"Just wait! I'll give the the gourmet tour," Odd told her.

"Not a good idea if you actually want to eat," Ulrich joked with the others except Odd laughing. "Tell me I'm wrong," he dared. Odd opened his mouth to retort, then shut it. "Thought so."

"Don't worry Odd. I'm sure there's something you can show me once I'm out of here," Aelita assured.

Odd snapped his fingers. "I got it! Music! I can show you all my favorite songs! Wait til you hear the Subsonics!"

"I look forward to it."

"Hey, shouldn't Jeremy be back by now?" Yumi asked.

"You're right." Aelita lifted her head. "Jeremy? Jeremy, are you there?" No response.

"I'm getting worried. You don't think something's happened to him, do you?" Yumi asked.

"Oh quit being so pessimistic," Odd said. "I'm sure at worse, he got caught and sent to class. He'll be here soon. Everything's fine."

Outside the tower, a ball rolled it's way to the tower. It stopped, with multiple Eye of XANA symbols showing the shell before the two halves separated, revealing a larger Eye of XANA symbol inside. It started charging its attack.

* * *

Jeremy sat on one of the cots in the infirmary, bandages over his ankle, wondering how things went so wrong after things started out so well. First XANA sends monsters to stop Aelita from getting to the tower, then he finds out he grabbed the wrong disc, then while grabbing the right disc, he encounters Jim, who chase him, and now he's stuck in the infirmary with a sprained ankle, unable to leave the room. According to the nurse, he'd have to wait a week before he could walk without crutches, which she hadn't given him yet as she wanted him off his feet for awhile. Meanwhile, he had no doubt XANA would continue to attempt to thwart their attempts at bringing Aelita out of Lyoko. He had to get out of here and back to the factory. ' _But how?'_

"Jim, you've gone too far this time!" He heard Mr. Delmas sat outside the infirmary.

"I know, sir," Jim replied sadly.

"You're paranoia has caused one of my students to get hurt!"

"I'm really sorry."

Mr. Delmas sighed. "Not as sorry as I am Jim. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to let you go."

"W-what?" Jim asked, shocked.

"You're fired, Jim. You have the rest of the day to clear out your stuff and leave." Jim felt his world shatter as the principal walked away.

He entered the infirmary and sat next to Jeremy, who crossed his arms and looked away. The nurse had left to get Jeremy something to eat. "Listen, Jeremy, you have every right to be angry at me. I'm not looking for forgiveness. I do want to say I'm sorry though. I thought for sure you were up to something, but I went too far." Jim sighed and walked over to the window. "I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I deserve to be fired." He started to walk out. "I'm really gonna miss you guys."

Jeremy suddenly had an idea. It was risky, but it had to be done. "Jim, wait." Jim turned around. "You... weren't exactly wrong in your assumption. We are hiding something."

Jim rushed to Jeremy's side. "So I was right! I'm not crazy!"

' _Not sure about that last one,'_ Jeremy thought as he nodded. "And I'm willing to tell the principal so you can get your job back. But first, I need you to take me somewhere. I'll explain on the way."

Jim's face lit up at the prospect of getting his job back, but then frowned in confusion. "Why are you doing this? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful. But it seems to me you've worked harder to keep your secret secret. Why reveal it now?"

"Three reasons. One, I feel bad we made you lose your job. Two, the secrecy of what we've been doing will soon be irrelevant. And three, what I need to do is really important, to me and a friend."

Jim thought for a moment, then nodded and sticking out his hand. "Great. Shake on it." Jeremy reached out and shook Jim's hand. "Alright, climb on my back and tell me where to go."

The blond nodded and did as he was told. "Ok, head to the forest. Meanwhile, I'll tell you about our secret. It all started when I was looking for parts for my mini robots in the abandoned factory."

* * *

"Everything's fine, right Odd?" Ulrich remarked sarcastically as he dodged the Megatank's circular laser.

"Come on, it's only one," Odd said as he launch a laser arrow at the monster. The Megatank closed up, the arrowhead bouncing off it's shell.

"Can it you two and focus!" Yumi shouted as she threw her fan. "We can't let XANA take out the tower!" The fan bounced off it's shell same as Odd's arrow. It opened up again and shot at them.

* * *

Jim had a hard time wrapping his head around it all. A virtual world? An evil AI? Fights to save the world? Sounded like a TV show to him. Having heard plenty of nonsense other students tried to use as an excuse, at any other time he wouldn't have believed it. But here he was, at the abandoned factory, waiting for the elevator that would take him to the supercomputer Jeremy claimed to have found, and he found himself believing Jeremy's crazy tale. "So you and the others save the world fighting monsters in a virtual world and turning off towers with the help of some computer program called Aelita?" Jeremy, who was currently holding on to Jim's arm as he stood on his good leg, nodded. "And how do you plan to stop this XANA thing."

"Simple. We'll turn the supercomputer off. But we can't do it with Aelita in there or we'll lose her too."

"So you're willing to risk the world in order for a program?"

Jeremy looked at Jim in anger. "She is not just some program! She my friend! She's our friend! And she's more human than some people I've meet! We know what we're doing is risky! We've each nearly died at XANA's hands! But none of us have ever even considered abandoning her!"

Jim was shocked for a second at Jeremy's words before laughing. "Wow! You kids are something else! Well I for one am proud of you guys." Now it was Jeremy's turn to be shocked. "Never leave a man behind! That was my squad's moto when I was in the commando unit! But I'd rather not talk about it right now." The elevator arrived and the two entered it. "So, you've got your little, uh, program thing to make her real, right?"

Jeremy held up the case with the disc. "Right here." They arrived at the floor of the lab. Jeremy entered the code and the doors opened.

"Wow." Jim looked in amazement. Any lingering doubts he had vanished. "Who da believed something like this existed?"

He helped Jeremy into the chair. The blond grabbed the earpiece and put it on. "Aelita, I'm back. Everything alright?"

"Jeremy?" Aelita's voice came before she appeared on his screen. "XANA sent a Megatank to take out the tower. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi are out there fighting it right now."

Jeremy looked at the map. "I see it."

"Um, Jeremy? Who's that man behind you?" Aelita asked, pointing at Jim.

"Oh, this is Jim, our P.E. teacher," Jeremy answered.

"Uh, hi there." Jim said, waving.

"Nice to meet you, Jim." Aelita said, waving back.

"I'll explain everything later, when we're face to face."

"I look forward to being with you." Jeremy blushed, which did not go unnoticed by Jim.

"Ok, I'm starting the program." Jeremy inserted the disc. Taking a moment to see if it was the right one, which it was, he directed his attention to the others. "Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, I've started the program, but it'll take time. Keep defending the tower!"

* * *

"Really? Cause I was thinking of taking a cat nap," Odd remarked sarcastically. He imagined Jeremy was shaking his head.

"Odd, with me," Yumi ordered. Odd nodded and followed behind her. The Megatank fired and Yumi was hit and devirtualized. Odd managed to close in and was about to fire at the monster at point blank when he was blasted and devirtualized as well.

Ulrich tried to distract the tank by using Triangulate, trapping it in a triangle created by him and his clones as they run faster between corners. It worked for a moment before the Megatank fired at one of the clones, disrupting the technique. The second clone was defeated just as quickly, but Ulrich used the opening to stab the monster in the eye, destroying it.

"Ulrich, behind you! Another Megatank!" Ulrich turned to see another Megatank about to shot at the tower. "I'm almost done, but I need a little more time!"

The tank shot the tower, causing it to shake. "The tower's not gonna last much longer!" Aelita cried from inside.

Ulrich positioned himself between the tower and the Megatank. It fired once more and Ulrich used his sword to block it. But the laser pushed against him, slowly forcing him back and draining his life points.

"Aelita, get into position!" Jeremy order.

Aelita got to the center of the tower. "In position. I'm ready to join you Jeremy."

"Alright, here goes nothing." He hit a few keys and pressed enter. "Code: Earth!" Aelita levitated up the tower and slowly disappeared. Outside, the laser overcame Ulrich and devirtualized him.

* * *

"Quick! Get me to the scanner room!" Jeremy barked.

"What happened to your ankle?" Yumi asked with concern whe n she saw the bandages.

She and Odd noticed the guilty look on Jim's face but before he could say anthing Jeremy cut him off. "I fell, now I need to get down there!"

"You want the first thing she see to be you eh?" Odd teased. Jeremy blushed but didn't deny it. The two Lyoko warriors helped him to the scanner room followed by Jim. Ulrich was waiting for them their. He was surprised to see Jim, but before he could question it, Jeremy told him he'd explain later. They heard one of the scanners hum and glow before it opened up. Jeremy threw himself off Odd and Yumi to the scanner, holding himself up with it. He looked down. "She's… She's..." He whispered with tears threating to leave his eyes.

Aelita felt strange. Many strange, foreign sensations penetrated her body. She felt something enter and leave through her nose, felt her chest go up and down, and the way her hand felt against whatever they were touching. ' _Wait, felt? I'm feeling? And this sensation I feel through my nose, is it smell?'_ She opened her eyes. She saw a leg, with many other pairs of legs behind it. She looked up and her breath hitch. Staring right back at her, unhindered by a screen, was Jeremy. He seemed to be in a trance, looking at her. She tried to get up, but her arms felt weak. She was not used to this new body. Jeremy seemed to see her predicament and held out his hand to help her up. She took it and basked in the feel of it. She couldn't put words to it, not yet anyway. All these senses were still new to her. It would take time before she could identify them. He helped her up as best he could. She gripped the scanner and to allow her legs time to get use to the function of standing. She looked back into Jeremy's eyes and whispered, "I'm here."

Jeremy nodded, wiping a lone tear and smiling brightly. "You're here."

"I'm here," she repeated, smiling back. "I'm finally here!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, catching him off guard. But he hugged her back with one arm, using the other to keep them up. "Thank you. Thank you so much Jeremy." She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him harder, enjoying how she felt in his arms and having him in her's. It was better than she could have imagined.

Jeremy blushed red. "Yo-... Y-you're welcome," he managed to stutter out.

"Hey! What are we, chopped liver? We helped too," Odd said he hugged Aelita too.

"Welcome to Earth," Yumi said as she too joined in for a group hug.

"About time you got here, princess," Ulrich added, a little reluctant to join in until Odd and Yumi pull him in.

"Thank you all so much!" Aelita told them. It was tight, but she didn't mind in the least. She was finally here, on Earth, with all her friends. Nothing could have made her happier. It was then she noticed the water coming from her eyes. "Jeremy? Why am I crying? I thought people cried when they were sad?"

"They also do this when they're really happy too," he pointed out.

"Well, I've never been happier," she replied as she snuggled deeply into the group embrace. Jim watched from behind, not wanting to interrupt the moment. Jeremy told him this was over a year in the making.

Eventually, everyone reluctantly backed away, with Ulrich supporting Jeremy. It was then that Aelita noticed Jeremy's ankle and gasped. "Jeremy, what happened?"

"Yeah, you've got some explaining to do Einstein," Ulrich added. "What happened to you and why is Jim here?"

"Alright alright. I'll tell you what happened."

* * *

Alpha: Ah, the moment Aelita was first materialized. Such a touching day, I'm sure.

Aelita: Yeah. It was great seeing everyone for the first time.

Sissi: Where am I?

Alpha: Pardon?

Sissi: You left me out! Me! I'm just as important to the show as the others!

Alpha: Huh, I have, haven't I? My bad. But next chapter I guarantee you'll be in it.

Sissi: Good.

Odd: I don't know. I like this story without her.

Sissi: Shut it, Oddball!

Odd: Make me!

Alpha: Oi! Play nice, both of you or I will make this an OddSissi fic!

Odd: You wouldn't.

Alpha: I don't know. I think you two would look cute together. (I actually really do. Don't know why.)

Sissi: Ew! No way! We'll behave!

Odd: Yeah, we will!

Alpha ' _Why didn't I think of this sooner?'_


	4. Chapter 4 Her Time On Earth

A/N: Heads up, Jeremy's ankle is still hurt. The nurse said it would take a week for him to walk in Code Earth, so it didn't really makes sense to me that in the next episode, which I sincerely doubt was a week later, he was walking fine like it never happened.

Chapter 4: Her Time on Earth

Sissi looked to the door of the classroom as she sat at her desk, eagerly awaiting Ulrich's arrive, much to the dismay of Nicholas and Herb. As the room started filling with the other students, she caught sight of a familiar brown-haired boy and was about to call him over when she saw he was not alone. With him was Odd, Jeremy in crutches, and a pink-haired girl she had never seen before. ' _Don't tell this is another girl who's flipped for my Ulrich!'_ She noticed a couple of boys were looking at her with interest, including Nicholas and Herb. She flicked them in their forehead, and they looked back at her with an apologetic look. "Hmm, who does that new girl think she is? Looks like all she cares about is surrounding herself with boys."

"I don't know," Nicholas said. "She looks really nervous to me."

"Clearly you're clueless when it comes to women," Sissi responded. "Acting frail and helpless is the oldest trick in the book. Guys love that. It lets them play the hero."

Finally, the teacher walked in. "Good day class. We have a new student today. Please, introduce yourself."

She remained seated and looked even more nervous as all eyes looked at her. "My uh… I'm, uh..."

Odd stood up. "This is Aelita, my cousin. She's really shy," he explained.

"Well, Aelita, welcome to Kadic Academy," the teacher said. "We all hope you enjoy your time here." Aelita nodded nodded thanks. "Now then, who can tell me about…"

* * *

"See Aelita? There's nothing to worry about," Jeremy told her as they sat on a bench in the courtyard, Odd and Ulrich with them.

"Yeah, and I liked history," she answered. Although, you guys have too many wars. It's kinda disturbing."

For a moment, none of them could think of a response and silence fell. Thankfully, Yumi arrived to break it. "How's our newest Earthling?" she asked.

"Great. I really love being here. All these new sensation. The air you breath, the colors, the smells… It's kinda overwhelming, but I enjoy it."

"Glad to hear it," Yumi said with a smile.

"I think it's time we shut off the supercomputer, don't you think?" Jeremy asked, grabbing his crutches and getting up.

"Yeah. I rather do it before XANA gives us an incentive," Ulrich replied.

Aelita looked down. "Um, you might find this silly, but I'm a little scared. Lyoko was my home. I don't know what effect shutting it down will have on me."

Jeremy held her hand. "Hey, I'm sure it'll be fine," Jeremy assured her. Aelita looked at him and smiled, then got up and went to the factory with the others.

* * *

"Hey Jim!" Odd shouted, being the first to arrive.

Jim woke up with a start. The Lyoko warriors let him stay at the factory since he didn't have anywhere else to go. The others jumped down, with Yumi carrying Jeremy. The young genius picked up his crutches, which he threw down. "Oh, hey guys. Thanks again for all you've done for me. Although, I am getting kinda bored."

"How about watching us turn off the supercomputer and finish XANA?" Odd offered.

"Sounds good to me. And you remember your promise, right Jeremy?" Jim asked.

"I remember. As soon as the computer is off, I'll tell the principal everything so you can get your job back," Jeremy said.

"Great! I never thought I'd miss being your P.E. teacher so much." They walked over to the elevator. "By the way, call me Jimbo. That's what my friends call me."

They arrived at the bottom floor and brought up the mainframe. Aelita looked uncomfortable. "If you want, we can wait a day or two," Jeremy offered.

Aelita shook her head. "No. Best do it now before XANA tries to stop us."

"Ok. Do you want the honors?"

"No. I'd rather you did it, Jeremy," she responded.

The boy nodded and walked to the mainframe. The others watched as he pushed a button and a panel opened, revealing a lever. "XANA, you've caused us a lot of grief, but because of you, we meet Aelita. Now it's time to shut you down!" He pulled the lever down and the computer turned off.

However, at the same time, Aelita fainted. The boys caught her while Yumi shouted, "Turn the power back on!" Jeremy wasted no time pulling the lever back up and the computer powered up once more.

* * *

Aelita opened her eyes. She was laying on Jim's bed, with him and Jeremy in front of her."Wha… What happened?" she asked.

"You fainted. It's like sleep. A really deep sleep," Jeremy answered, relieved that she had awakened.

"Huh, really? I kinda liked how it felt."

"Maybe so," Jim started, "but the fact is you fainted and that's not normal."

"What do you think happened?" Aelita asked.

Jeremy thought for a moment. "I'll need to run a scan. Luckily I modified the scanner's program while you were out. Mind if I examine you."

"Not at all. I'd like to know what happened to me too," Aelita answered.

Jim and Jeremy were headed to the lab while Aelita headed for scanners. She stepped into one and Jeremy launched the program. Once she was done, she headed up for the diagnostic. "Just what I was afraid of." Jeremy commented as she entered and looked at the screen.

"Looks like XANA infected me with a virus," she said. "It must have happened during the materialization. Now that I think about it, I do remember feeling XANA's presence for a brief moment, like he was trying to keep me from leaving."

"Your right. That must be it," Jeremy said, agreeing. "XANA must have infected you in order to keep you linked to him. Which means if we shut down XANA…"

"I die too," Aelita finished.

"Well, there has to be something we can do," Jim said.

"I can work on an antivirus, but who knows how long it'll take," Jeremy told him.

"I guess I won't be getting my job back then." Jim commented sadly.

"Not quite. I have a plan B." Jeremy said, with Aelita nodding.

"Oh? What is it?" Jim asked.

"Tomorrow, I'll launch a Return to the Past. I'll set it to send us back to before you were fired," Jeremy explained.

"Wait? You can do that?" Jim asked.

"Oh, did I leave out the time reversal function when I first explained to you about what we do?" Jim nodded. "My bad. Yeah, we can turn back time. It's how we managed to keep XANA's attacks secret."

"Great! I can still get my job!" Jim cheered. Then he looked at his watch. "Hey, it's getting late. You kids better get going. You don't wanna be late for curfew Jeremy."

"Got it." He turned to Aelita. "I'll, uh, take you back to Yumi's, i-if you want," he offered with a slight blush.

"I'd like that." Aelita said as two walked into the elevator.

"Ah, young love." Jim commented. "Reminds me of my time with my childhood sweetheart. A beautiful girl by the name of…" Jim realised he was alone. "Oh, darn. I didn't mind talking about it. Well, some of it anyway."

* * *

Aelita shivered. "What a strange sensation."

"You shivered. It a reaction your body has to the cold," Jeremy explained. "If you want, you can borrow my sweater."

"No thanks. I like being a little chilly." She gazed around. "It's amazing. The sounds and smells. It's all different from the day."

"Yeah."Jeremy said, agreeing. "At night it's nice and peaceful." He pick a nearby flower. "Here, smell this."

Aelita took it from his hands and brought it to her nose. Taking a whiff, she smiled. "It's lovely. It's truly wonderful to be alive." She looked at Jeremy. "And it's thanks to you and all your hard work. Thank you so much Jeremy."

Jeremy blushed. "I uh… W-well I d-didn't do it alone."

"I know. I also know that none of this could have been possible without you. You were the one who turned on the supercomputer and found me, who wanted to help me even though I'm just a program." Jeremy opened his mouth to say something but Aelita just continued. "You brought all of us together. And you were the one who was ready to run himself ragged to bring me here. So again, thank you." Jeremy blushed at her praise. Silence fell briefly before her stomach rumbled. "What was that?"

"I'm guessing you're hungry. You did sleep through dinner." Jeremy checked his pockets. Thankfully, he remember his wallet. "Why don't we grab some burgers?"

"Sounds good. But what's a burger?" Aelita asked.

"I'll show you," he said, leading the way.

* * *

"Glad to hear you're alright," Yumi said into her phone as she sat on her bed. She called Jeremy and told him she wanted to talk to Aelita.

"Yeah, sorry we won't be able to shut down the supercomputer yet," Aelita replied.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I trust Jeremy to fix the problem. We don't call him Einstein for nothing. So where are you now?" she asked.

"Oh, my stomach made a sound. Jeremy explained that it meant I was hungry, so he offered to take me somewhere for a burger," Aelita answered.

"Oh?" Yumi said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I enjoy spending time with him like this, instead of through a screen." Yumi was sure Jeremy was blushing at that.

"Well, I'm waiting for you here, but no need to hurry. Take all the time you need."

"Thanks Yumi. See ya." Aelita hung up.

* * *

"That was nice," Aelita commented as they left the building.

"Well, if you want, we can grab dessert," Jeremy offered, not wanting the night to end just yet.

"Sure. What's on the menu?" she asked.

"Well, how about ice cream?" Aelita looked confused. "It's a frozen dairy treat that comes in a variety of different flavors.

Aelita's eyes lit up. "That sounds great!"

The two entered the nearest ice cream parlor. Aelita looked through the glass in wonder at all the different kind of flavors. "There are so many. I don't know how I can choose one."

"Um, well, I can always bring you back," Jeremy told her. "After all, you're here to stay."

Aelita smiled at him. "That I am. Ok, for now, I'll pick, um, that one. Chocolate."

"Want it on a cone or cup?"

"What's the difference?"

"Well, the cone is edible, but the ice cream is easier to eat in a cup. At least, in my opinion," he answered.

"Oh, then I'll take the cup."

Jeremy walked to the counter. "One scoop of chocolate and one of vanilla, please. In a cup." The cashier nodded and told him the price. Once Jeremy paid, he scooped up their ice cream. Aelita walked up to Jeremy. "I hope you're not spending too much on me."

"Nah, I've... kinda been saving up for a while, just for this," he admitted, blushing in embarrassment.

Aelita smiled and thanked him. Their ice cream was ready and they sat down at one of the tables, since Jeremy couldn't use his crutches and eat at the same time. Aelita picked up her spoon and dug in. Her face brightened as the her ice cream touched her tastebuds. "Wow! This is delicious!" She started eating faster.

"Slow down, or you'll get a…"

"Ah!" Aelita put a hand to her head. "What… What was that?" she asked as the pain faded.

"Brain freeze," Jeremy answered. "It's the way the body react when you eat ice cream too quickly. Guess I should have warned you sooner."

"No. I got a little carried away." She continued to eat her ice cream, this time slowly. Once they finished, they threw the cups away and walked outside. Aelita looked up at the night sky. "You know, I read about stars. Each one the light of a sun light years away. And yet, when I look at them, all I can think about is how beautiful they look."

' _Not as beautiful as you,'_ Jeremy thought.

As they walked to Yumi's, Aelita saw something that interested her. "What's that? A scanner?" she asked, pointing at the photo booth.

"Not quite. Come on," he urged as he moved to the booth, Aelita following. Entered the booth, the two of them took pictures of themselves.

Finally, all too soon for either of their tastes, the night ended when they arrived at Yumi's. "Your castle awaits, princess."

"Thanks for walking me back. Even with the virus, you've given me the best night of my life." Jeremy blushed, and it only intensified when she kissed his cheek. "Good night." She enter the house and Jeremy walked back to his dorm at school, a large grin plastered on his face.

* * *

Aelita walked upstairs and found Yumi smirking at her. "So, how was your date?" she asked.

"What date?" Aelita asked back, confused. "I was just with Jeremy like I told you over the phone. He took me to get something to eat, showed me the wonders of ice cream, and we had our photos taken. It was great."

' _Sounds like a date to me,'_ Yumi though. "Well, anyway, here's where you'll be sleeping."

* * *

In the Ice Sector of Lyoko, a blue tower turned red.

* * *

Aelita was responding, in detail, to the math teacher's question when screaming was heard outside. Everyone looked out the door to see a student being chased by something. "What the heck is that?" Sissi exclaimed, pointing at what the student was running from.

The Lyoko warriors recognised it instantly. A Kankrelat. It looked at the warriors and it's red eye glowed. Ulrich forced the class back and shut the door as it shot lasers. Everyone looked outside and saw more Kankrelats. The four went to the back of the classroom, away from prying ears. Luckily, everyone was in too much shock to pay attention. "Looks like XANA sent one of his monsters here. But how did he manage that?" Jeremy wondered.

"Forget how they're here, how are we gonna stop them?" Odd asked.

Ulrich answered that. "We fight them. I'll draw their attention and defend the home front with Yumi. You guys head to the factory and shut down that tower." Ulrich took out his cell to call Yumi.

"Are you sure?" Aelita asked, worried for his safety.

"Yeah. We have to keep them from killing anyone. A Return to the Past won't fix that." Ulrich turned his attention to his phone when Yumi answered. "Yeah, we know. Grab weapons and meet me outside the math class." He hung up.

They headed for the door. Ulrich opened it slightly then closed it when the Kankrelat fired. He opened it again quickly and rushed out. The monster fired, but Ulrich dodged and jumped over it, Once he landed he ran for the stairs. The Kankrelat turned around and fired again, this time hitting Ulrich in the shoulder. Still, he didn't stop. He kept running down the stairs and the Kankrelat followed.

The others waited until the Kankrelat turned it's back on them before leaving the classroom. Aelita and Odd ran out, with Jeremy trying to catch up in his crutches. They reached the door and waited for the group of Kankrelats outside to leave before making a break for the forest.

Meanwhile, Ulrich was still being chased by a Kankrelat until a javelin flew past him and stabbed it. Ulrich looked and saw Yumi. "What would you do without me?"

"I'd rather not find out," he responded. They heard a noise and saw more Kankrelats headed toward them. "Come on!"

* * *

"Take this!" Jim stabbed another Kankrelat that popped out of the scanner with pointed metal rod. But just as he did, the scanner glowed and opened up, letting loose another one. Jim chased it, trying to smash it.

The elevator door opened and Odd came out with a nail gun, shooting at the Kankrelat. Jeremy and Aelita followed behind. The Kankrelat dodged, but unfortunately for it, it moved toward Jim, who smashed it. "Having fun Jim?" Odd asked.

"I told you, call me Jimbo. I imagine this is XANA's doing?"

"Yes," Aelita answered. "Jeremy, transfer me to Lyoko."

"Are you sure? Last time XANA infected you with a virus. He might stop us from materializing you completely," Jeremy warned, not wanting to lose Aelita.

"Then so be it. You know stopping XANA comes first. For now it's Kankrelats, but what's to stop XANA from sending Bloks next? Or Megatanks? I couldn't bear it if someone died so I could live." Aelita took Jeremy's hand and looked into his eyes. "Besides, I'm sure you'll be able to find a solution if XANA does manage to keep me from returning. I believe in you. Always have."

Jeremy looked down and relented. "Alright. Get into the scanner. I'll send you and Odd to deactivate the tower." Jeremy returned to the elevator and went up to the lab. He sat in his seat. "I'll deactivate the infected scanner."

"Hey, where are Ulrich and Yumi?" Jim asked.

"They're holding down the fort at school," Odd answered.

"I'll go help them. I'll be of more use there then here."

"You might need this." He tossed Jim the nail gun.

"Thanks." Jim ran off to the elevator.

"Ok, I'm sending you to the Ice Sector. Get ready. Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Aelita." The scanner doors closed. "Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Aelita." Jeremy pressed the final key. "Virtualization!"

* * *

The two virtualized in the Ice Sector. Odd landed on his feet while Aelita landed on her bum. "It's strange, being virtualized."

"You get use to it," Odd told her.

Aelita looked around. "I'm not cold. I don't feel the air and I can't smell anything. I miss Earth already."

"Let's go then. The sooner we deactivate the tower, the sooner we can go back," Odd said as they ran off.

"There's too many!" Yumi shouted as the Kankrelats closed in. They were outside and surrounded.

"Banzaiii!" Jim burst forth, shooting Kankrelats with his nail gun. "Eat this you damn cockroaches!" He continued shooting until all the monster in the area at the moment were defeated.

"Wow, this is the first time I'm glad you caught us by surprise Jim," Ulrich commented.

"Thanks but remember my friends call me Jimbo. Anyway, you two should head on over to the factory. If I've got this right, the sooner that tower is off, the sooner this ends, correct." The two kids nodded. "Then head on over there, on the double! I'll take care of things here."

* * *

"Three Hornets at nine o'clock!" Jeremy warned.

"I see them. Look out Aelita!" Odd pushed Aelita forward as the Hornets flew by, shooting lasers. None of them were hit, but the Hornets turned around to do another fly-by. "I'll hold them off! Head to the tower!" Odd ordered. Aelita nodded and ran off. "Laser Arrow!" Odd shot off a few arrows, but the Hornets dodged and shot him multiple times with a barrage of lasers, knocking him down.

"Odd, you've only got 40 life points left!" Jeremy informed him. "I just got a call from Ulrich and Yumi. They're on there way. Try to hold them off until then."

"Will do Einstein." He shot at the Hornets with his arrows again, they dodged and came around. Odd started running as they opened fire. He turned and shot one, but was shot in the back by another. The two remaining Hornets flew over him. One turned around, but the other headed toward Aelita. "Uh-oh! Einstein, one of them is headed for Aelita!" The other Hornet closed in. "Come and get it, ya big dumb bug." Lining up the shot, he fired. Unfortunately, the Hornet fired at the same time and both were defeated.

* * *

Jim heard the sounds of students screaming and followed them. He found some kids hiding behind a log while five Kankrelats fired at them. "Hey! Leave those kids alone!" He shot at them, taking out one. The other four turned their attention to him and fired back. Jim moved and continued firing, taking two more down. However, this drew the attention of more monsters. "Go! Get somewhere safe!" he ordered the students. They ran off as Jim took a laser to the leg. Forcing him to kneel down for a bit. A few of the Kankrelats turned their attention to the fleeing students, but Jim shot at them. "Come on! I'm not done yet!" he goated. The full attention of all the Kankrelats was once again on him.

* * *

A Hornet was blasting an ice wall Aelita made earlier. She could tell it was starting to weaken so she ran further into the ice cave. Yumi threw her fan but the Hornet dodged and it hit the ice wall, breaking it and allowing the Hornet to pursue Aelita. Yumi and Ulrich followed after it. "This time…" Yumi threw her fan again. It passed by the Hornet, bounced off an icicle, and went back to the monster, destroying it.

"Now that's more like it," Ulrich commented.

"It's all in the wrist."

"Good thing you two showed up when you did," Aelita said as she approached them.

"Coarse! We always got your back," Ulrich said.

"Now let's head to the tower and stop those Kankrelats," Yumi said.

They continued until they arrived at the activated tower Aelita entered it and stood at the middle before levitating to the second platform, where she accessed the interface.

* * *

Jim laid on the ground, the nail gun out of his reach as the Kankrelats closed in. His clothes had holes where the lasers hit him. "Is that… all you got?" Jim taunted. The monsters' eyes lit up as they prepared to finish him off. ' _At least the children are safe.'_

Aelita entered 'Lyoko'. "Tower deactivated."

Jeremy hit a key. "Return to the Past, now."

* * *

It was morning again. The morning of the day they first materialized Aelita. Jeremy's ankle was fully healed since the accident never happened. Everyone was gathered in his room looking at Aelita on the screen, since she was still in Lyoko. "Ok, now let's bring you back," Jeremy said.

"No," Aelita responded, shaking her head. "I can still feel the virus inside me. I'm still link to XANA, so we can't deactivate the supercomputer without killing me."

"But still! Maybe we can treat the virus here!" Jeremy argued.

"We can't take that risk. As long as XANA lives, he'll keep attacking. I have to stay here, in Lyoko, to monitor him and warn you guys whenever he strikes."

"We can still materialize you from time to time though," Yumi offered. "For an hour or two."

"I'd like that. But otherwise, I have to stay here." She looked at Jeremy's sad face. She didn't like making him sad but she had no choice. "Listen Jeremy. I meant what I said earlier. I believe in you to find a solution. After all, you are Einstein."

Jeremy wiped his eyes. "Yeah, I will. I promise."

"Then I look forward to my next visit. Thanks again for that wonderful night. I hope we have more. Goodbye." She cut the connection.

Silence fell upon the group, until Odd's dog Kiwi stirred and moved to hide. "Oh, we forgot about Jim," Yumi said as the door opened.

"So, you're at it again," Jim said with his hands on his hips.

"What, no. We were studying," Odd told him.

"You think I was born yesterday? I've had enough of your lies, so we all are gonna stay right here until you fess up."

"Jim!" The P.E. teacher turned to see the principal. "What is going on?"

"Ah, there you are sir. I was just about to find out what these four are up to."

Mr. Delmas sighed. "More of your insane paranoia. I've had just about enough of…"

"Wait sir!" Ulrich interrupted. "We were up to something."

"Huh?" Jim and Delmas said in shock.

"Yeah, we were gonna play a little joke on Nicholas and Herb," Odd said. "Probably would have been late for class too if it weren't for Jim."

"Um, ok?" Mr. Delmas found it strange that they were confessing and praising Jim for stopping them. "Since you admitted to it, I'll let you off with a warning this time. Now hurry on to class."

Jim was equally surprised. "Um, thanks. But why'd you get me off the hook?" he asked once the principal was gone.

"Don't you remember?" Jeremy asked as he left, knowing the answer to his question.

Jim tried to think on what he did, but was drawing a blank. The others left too, but not before thanking him for whatever he did and call him a hero. He didn't get it, but he liked it.

Jeremy pulled out a photo of him and Aelita from the night they spent together. He didn't understand how he still had it, since the night in question never happened, and quite frankly, he didn't care. It was a priceless memento and another motivator for him to do everything he can to free Aelita from XANA.

"Oh, is this from that night Aelita mentioned?" Odd asked, leaning over his shoulder. Jeremy blushed and hid the photo. "Come on! Show me Einstein!"

"Don't worry. I can tell you everything. Aelita told me all about her date with him," Yumi teased.

Jeremy blushed harder. "Did she… Did she really call it that?" he asked.

"Well, no," she admitted. "But it sure sounded like one to me. And you two intend to have more?"

"Perhaps one that is actually a date?" Ulrich added a smirk. Jeremy blushed as his friends continued to tease him all the way to class, but he still held onto the photo of him and Aelita with a smile.

* * *

Alpha: There, a chapter with you Sissi.

Sissi: Barely.

Alpha: Geez, you're like Shino. Never satisfied. You will be in more chapters, you know. Anyway, I'm wondering who I should pair you up with.

Sissi: Ulrich.

Alpha: Besides Ulrich. I was thinking William.

William: But I like Yumi.

Alpha: But I'm most likely gonna pair her with Ulrich.

William: Most likely? So there's a chance?

Alpha: It's 98% likely that Yumi and Ulrich end up together.

William: So I have a two percent chance? I'll take it.

Alpha: You're a hopeless optimist, you know that?

William: That's the power of love.

(Little something I want to add. The best ice cream flavor ever, in my opinion at least, is lemon. That is Mmm Mmm good! Seriously, try it.)


	5. Chapter 5 Mystery

A/N: I'm afraid this chapter is also based on an episode from the show. And so will the next two chapters, since they deal with introduction of Sector 5 and Franz Hopper. But after that, I've got an original XANA attack planned, don't worry.

Chapter 5: The Mystery

Jeremy sat in the factory lab, putting the finishing touches on his latest program. "And, done!" Jeremy looked at his work with pride.

He pulled out his cell and called Odd. "What's up, Einstein?" he asked.

"I finished the program," Jeremy replied. "You know what to do."

"That's great! By the way, what about my idea?" he asked.

"Finished that too. So grab Ulrich and Yumi and met me at the factory for a test drive." Jeremy hung up.

It took a while, but Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi all arrived at the factory. "So you finally finished?" Yumi asked.

"Yup! I can't wait to tell Aelita!" Jeremy said.

"But what about the other thing? Our super cool vehicles?" Odd asked.

"I told you I'm finished. Head to the scanners while I contact Aelita." They nodded and headed down the elevator. "Aelita? Can you hear me?"

"I hear you." Aelita popped onto the screen. "What's going on? Is XANA attacking? I don't feel any pulsations."

"No, nothing like that. I'm sending the others to your location to test out the vehicles I made."

"Oh, that sounds interesting. I'm sure that'll give us an edge against XANA," she said. "I'll be waiting."

"Alright guys. I'm sending you to the Desert Sector," Jeremy informed his friends. They entered the scanners. "Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Ulrich. Transfer: Yumi. Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Ulrich. Scanner: Yumi." He hit the last key. "Virtualization!"

* * *

The three Lyoko warriors were virtualized outside the way tower. Aelita come out to greet them. "So, ready to see what Jeremy has cooked up for us?"

"Yeah!" Odd looked the most excited.

"Well then," Jeremy's voice said, "you first then. Odd, I give you the Overboard."

In front of Odd appeared a purple and magenta board that hovered slightly over the ground. It had a small booster on each side and a cat face on the front. The other snickered at the design. "Oh, ha ha ha. I didn't didn't know you had a sense of humor Einstein," Odd remarked sarcastically.

"Just like to save it for moments like this," Jeremy commented. "But it's fast."

"Fast, you say," Odd said with intrigue. "I'll be the judge of that." He hopped on.

"Ok, Ulrich, say hello to the Overbike." In front of him appear a motorcycle with a single tire. It was black with neon color lines. On the back was a rocket booster. "This vehicle is capable of ground transportation and flight using the rocket booster on the back."

"Nice!" Ulrich said as he mounted his new vehicle.

"Last, but not least, Yumi. Sorry Aelita, but I only had time to make three vehicles," Jeremy explained.

"That's fine," the pink haired girl assured him.

"Anyway, Yumi, you got the Overwing." In front of Yumi the Overwing appeared, hovering above the ground. It was designed like a scooter but much larger, with a round, platform like bottom. It was silver with a red dot on front.

Yumi jumped on and grabbed the handles. "I like it." She noticed there was room for another and turned to Aelita. "Need a lift?" She nodded and hopped on.

"Um, if you want, I could work on something for you," Jeremy offered.

"No need. I can always hitch a ride with one of the others," she answered as she got on the Overwing.

"Race ya to that rock over there!" Odd challenged, pointing at a far away rock structure.

"Your on!" Ulrich said, revving the Overbike's engines. "Get ready to eat my dust!"

"That'll be hard to do while I'm ahead of you!" Odd shot back.

"What do ya say, Aelita? Ready to show these boys up?" Yumi asked her passenger.

"Of course," she replied.

"Alright then, line up," Jeremy said. They did so. "On your mark. Get set. Go!"

The three speeded off, Odd taking the lead followed Yumi and Aelita. Ulrich was last but quickly caught up to the girls. Odd started doing tricks. "This handles like a dream Einstein!" he shouted.

"See you at the finish line," Yumi said. Aelita waved with a smirk on her face as they passed him by.

"Yeah, after I get there first!" Odd shouted back as he caught up.

"Don't think I'm out of the race yet!" Ulrich sped up until all three of them were neck and neck.

Jeremy looked at the screen, secretly rooting for Aelita, when a red mark appeared. "Heads up! You've got incoming directly ahead!"

"What is it? Hornets? Bloks?" Ulrich asked.

"No clue. I don't recognise the ID card. You should be able to see it now."

The Lyoko warriors stopped and looked ahead. Approaching them was a white monster that bore a slight resemblance to a spider, but with only four legs and a snouted head with the Eye of XANA on it. "Looks like XANA's been busy too. He made a new monster," Aelita said.

"Be careful. This thing has more life points than the others," Jeremy warned.

"Lets see, what to call it?" Odd pondered. While he did so, the new monster stopped, sat on it's hind legs, and pointed it's front legs at him, with were tipped with laser cannons. It shoot lasers in rapid succession. Odd was caught off guard and tried to dodge, but his Overboard was hit and devirtualized. It then turned its attention to the others and quickly devirtualized their vehicles too.

"Jeremy, can you reprogram our vehicles?" Yumi asked.

"Yes, but it'll take time. Aelita, head back to the way tower so I can devirtualize you."

"Got it." Aelita ran off back to the tower.

The monster pointed its cannons at her and fire but Ulrich stepped in between them and blocked the shots with his sword. "Nu-uh. You have to deal with us first."

Yumi threw her fan, aiming for the symbol on its head, but the monster shot it out of the sky. Odd shot laser arrows at its chest, which hit, but weren't enough to destroy it. "Man this thing is tough!" The monster shot at him in rapid succession. Odd dodged most of them, but two hit his chest knocking him back.

"Odd, you're down forty life points!" Jeremy told him.

The monster turned back to Ulrich, who attempted to close in, but was forced to stop and block the incoming lasers. He looked toward Aelita's location to make sure she was alright, but that proved to be a mistake as multiple lasers hit him, devirtualizing him.

Yumi threw her fans again, but the monster leaned to the side to dodge. Jeremy finally finished reprogramming the vehicles and the Overboard and Overwing appeared. "About time!" Odd said.

"Hey, they're still new!" Jeremy defended. "It'll take time before I can program them quickly."

"Whatever. I got this!" Odd hopped on his vehicle and flew into the air. The new monster fired, but this time Odd was ready. He dodge the attack and shot a few arrows. Most missed, but two hit its back. But it still wasn't destroyed. "What's it gonna take to beat this thing?"

"Better aim?" Yumi offered from the Overwing. The monster charged it's lasers and fired two strong bolts that destroyed the Overwing. Yumi rolled on the ground, but recovered and did cartwheels as the monster fired on her. Odd tried to shoot it, but there was only a clicking noise, meaning he was out of ammo. Yumi tried to throw her fan once more, but once again, it was shot in the barrage of lasers and soon she was overpowered and devirtualized.

"Aelita's in the tower," Jeremy said. "I'm running Code: Earth."

"Good," Odd said as he was shot out of the sky and devirtualized.

* * *

Everyone was in the lab. Jeremy sighed. "I guess it was wishful thinking XANA wouldn't up his game too. We need to be on the lookout for anymore new monsters he may have made."

"Plus, you need to program our vehicles faster, or we won't stand a chance against those Tarantulas."

"What?" Yumi asked.

"Tarantulas. That's what I'm calling them. Cause they walk like spiders," Odd explained.

"What I want to know is, just how XANA is getting stronger?" Jeremy said. "It's obvious he has a way of increasing his power."

"Think he's still evolving?" Ulrich asked. Jeremy nodded. "Great," he remarked sarcastically.

Aelita stood up. "Well, I should head back to Lyoko. XANA could attack at any moment." She was about to head to elevator when she noticed everyone had a strange grin on their face, as opposed to the usual depressed look when she returned.

"Come on, tell her," Yumi urged.

Aelita looked confused. "Tell me what?"

Jeremy smirked and motioned her over. "I've been working on a little program. Say hello to the Super Scan." He showed Aelita the program. To most people, it was unintelligible, but to computer whizzes like him and Aelita, it was much more. She looked impressed. "It'll constantly scan every tower in Lyoko simultaneously and instantly send me an alert the moment XANA activates one."

Aelita's eyes widened. "That means…"

"Mmhmm," Jeremy said, nodding. "Odd and Ulrich have already registered you here as a boarder at school. Right guys?"

"Come on, you really think we'd forget to do that?" Odd said.

"We wanted to surprise you after we tested the vehicles," Yumi told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Everything is all set up."

For a moment, Aelita was completely speechless. Then she started to regain her voice. "This is… I mean… This is so wonderful! Thank you!"

* * *

Jim opened the door. "And this the room you'll be staying at, Miss, uh…" He scratched his head trying to remember her name.

"Stones. Aelita Stones," she told him. She had gotten less shy since the first time she came her, not that anyone but her and the Lyoko warriors remembered due to the Return to the Past. "I'm Odd's cousin from Canada."

"Right. Aelita Stones. Anyway, breakfast is at 7. That's am, not pm, though that's, uh, pretty obvious. And dinner is at 7 too, just pm this time. You are not allowed to be here between 8am and 4:30pm. Curfew is at 10, and no boys in here late at night. Nor are you allowed in a boy's dorm at that time. Your cousin and his friends will fill you in on the other rules, if they can remember them." He looked at Jeremy, Ulrich, and Odd, who all flashed innocent smiles. "Anyway, we hope you enjoy your time here at Kadic Academy."

* * *

"Kiwi, stay still," Odd told his dog, who was thrashing around in his bag. "Just wait and then you can run around all you want."

"This is a bad idea. I told you to leave him in your room," Jeremy told him.

"What! No way! There's no way I'd leave my little diggity-dog alone when he could have the chance to run around free and away from the prying eyes of one grumpy gym teacher."

Jeremy shook his head and waved Aelita over when he saw her. "So, settling in fine?" he asked.

"Yeah, I like my room. Thanks again guys," she said with a smile. "So what's this field trip about?"

"Mrs. Hertz wants us to make a biodiversity scrapbook, with pictures and drawings of the different plants we find," Jeremy explained. "We're working in pairs and we've been assigned together."

"Sounds great," Aelita responded.

"Hey, new girl!" The three looked to see Milly and Tamiya run up to them. "Care to give us a quick interview for the school newspaper?" Milly asked.

Aelita thought about it for a moment. "I guess."

"Great! Tamiya, roll camera."

"Rolling," she responded, pointing her camera.

"Hello. This is Milly Solovieff from the Kadic News reporting. Here with us is the new girl in school. Would you like to tell our audience your name?"

"Aelita Stones," she answered. "I'm Odd's cousin."

"Really? You're related to Odd?" Milly asked.

"That's right," Odd confirmed.

"So where are you from Aelita?"

"Canada."

"Where in Canada?"

"Um, Toronto," she answered, thinking of the first city in Canada that came to mind.

"And what do you like to do?" Milly asked.

"Well, I'm good with computers. People say I'm a real whiz at them."

"Geez, sounds like we have a Miss Einstein around here," Sissi commented loudly from nearby.

"Huh? Mrs. Einstein… I like it. It's like your nickname, right Jeremy?" she asked.

The young genius nodded before looking away and blushing. Odd covered his mouth to keep himself from laughing and Milly and Tamiya exchanged looks. "So, have you had any prior exchanges with any of Odd's friends before coming here?"

"Actually, yes." Jeremy and Odd looked at her surprised. Luckily, no one noticed and they weren't on camera. "See, Jeremy and I were pen-pals. We use to video chat and write letters to each other lot, and this was before he and Odd became friends. It was nice and I'm glad we can finally be together in person." Jeremy felt a slight blush return.

"So you two are close?"

Aelita nodded. "He's my best friend and very special to me."

"Ok, I think that's all we need. Thanks Aelita!" The two ran off, sharing knowing grins.

"They were nice," Aelita said as she turned back to her friends and noticed they were acting strange. Odd was covering his mouth with one hand and holding his gut with the other while Jeremy was looking away with a ting of pink on his face. "What up?"

"Oh, n-nothing," Jeremy said. "Oh look, there's Ulrich."

"Hey Ulrich, you tell Yumi yet?" Odd asked after finally recovering, knowing the boy had planned to finally tell Yumi how he felt.

"Shut it!" he growled.

"Geez, what's got you so grumpy?" Odd asked.

"None of your business," he spat out.

Aelita frowned. "Hey, that wasn't nice. Odd was only trying to…"

Odd put his hand up to stop her. "Forget it. He's in one of his moods. He'll get over it and we'll find out what's wrong."

* * *

The class arrived at the forest. Since the field trip was for 8th and 9th graders, Yumi was there too. Ulrich glared at her partner. "So that's it," Odd said as he noticed the look on the roommate's face.

"Just who is that guy anyway?" Ulrich asked.

"That's William Dunbar. He's new here. Apparently he got kicked out of his last school."

Meanwhile, Jeremy and Aelita were discussing the mathematics behind the growth of trees while Sissi, Herb, and Nicholas trailed behind them. "I certainly called it. She's definitely a little Mrs. Einstein." She turned toward the nearby shopping center.

"Hey Sissi, where are you going?" Herb asked.

"To the stores, duh," she answered.

"But we're suppose to draw plants."

"There's a florist in there," she responded as she crossed the street. Neither boy tried to stop her, knowing it'd be useless.

* * *

"Something wrong Aelita?" Jeremy asked as they walked deeper into the forest. Aelita was looking around nervously, like she was expecting an attack or something.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. It's just… This just reminds me of the Forest Sector in Lyoko and I can't help but worry one of XANA's monsters is gonna come out, like that Tarantula."

"Don't worry. The Super Scan hasn't picked up any activity and there are no such thing as monsters. That's just in fairy tales or silly horror movies like the ones Odd likes to watch," he assured her.

"You don't like horror movies?" Aelita asked.

"I think them scientifically inaccurate. I mean, a man who kills people in their dreams? Please, like that's possible."

"You sure it's not because they're scary?" Aelita asked.

"W-what? No. They're just dumb movies, why would I be scared?" he said, looking away.

Aelita giggled to herself. She could tell he was lying and was just too embarrassed to admit he was scared of them. "Whatever you say," she said with a grin.

"Anyway, I don't have time for movies with XANA taking up most of my time." Aelita looked away sadly, something that went unnoticed by Jeremy as he touched his bag and noticed something missing. "Oh no." He quickly opened his bag and looked through it.

"What is it?" Aelita asked.

"I left my laptop back at school."

"So go and get it. I can finish up here," Aelita told him. "Besides, with what we've already done, I'm sure we'll get the highest grade."

"Be right back!" Jeremy ran off.

"Bye." Aelita waved as he ran off and continued walking on her own.

* * *

Ulrich spied on William and Yumi from his camera. "Will you stop worrying. Yumi's crazy about you," Odd told him as he played with Kiwi.

"Says you. Honestly, I don't know how she feels about me."

"Geez, I'll never understand you two. I mean, are you going out or not?"

"It's complicated," was Ulrich's answer.

"Only because you two make it so," Odd replied.

Meanwhile, Yumi and William were talking. "So I hear you're a rebel," Yumi said.

"I won't call myself that," William answered. "I'm just a little rebellious."

"Well you did get kick out of your last school for putting posters all over the place," Yumi shot at him.

"I object your honor. They were not posters but love letters," William corrected.

"Are you saying love makes you crazy?"

"Crazy, no. Love makes me totally insane."

* * *

Aelita looked around. She was hearing noises all around her and it scared her. "Monster are only in fairy tales. Monsters are only in fairy tales," she kept telling herself. Then she heard howling and held her head as images flashed before her eyes. Images of wolves. She dropped her notepad and ran as fast as she could, not know nor caring where she was going as long as it was far away from there.

* * *

Jeremy arrived in his dorm and grabbed his laptop, but before he could leave, an alert come from his computer. "Oh no."

* * *

Ulrich heard his cell phone ring and picked up. "Yeah?"

"XANA's activated a tower," Jeremy explained. "I had to go back to school to pick up my laptop, I need you guys to grab Aelita and meet me at the factory. Is Yumi with you?"

"I'd rather you call her yourself. Where'd you leave Aelita?"

"On the red trail. And hurry. I don't know what XANA has planned, but it can't be good."

"See you in a minute." He hung up. "Duty calls. We have to pick up Aelita."

"What about Yumi?" Odd asked.

"Jeremy will take care of her."

"But she's right…"

"I said Jeremy will take care her!" Ulrich said a little louder. Odd sighed and followed him, Kiwi close behind.

* * *

Aelita paused and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. The noises stopped, as did the visions of the wolf. But she had no idea where she was. Looking around, she saw a house in the distance. Not having any other ideas on what to do, she walked over to it. It was a large white house that had clearly seen better days. The paint was chipped, the lawn was overgrown with vegetation, and the fence around it was rusty. On the gate was a plague that read 'Hermitage'. She had another headache and for a moment, the building looked new. Curiosity overcame her, as well as a strange sense of familiarity. ' _But that's impossible. I've never been here before.'_ She opened the gate and walked in, unaware of the camera that turned toward her, a familiar symbol temporarily flashing through the lens.

* * *

"I don't see Aelita. You sure Einstein said she was this way?" Odd asked.

"Yeah. He said the red trail," Ulrich said as he looked around. Kiwi rubbed against his leg. Ulrich looked down and saw Kiwi walk up to a notepad on the ground. "I think this is Aelita's."

"Good work Kiwi!" Odd praised. "Come on boy. Find Aelita."

Ulrich heard rustling to his left and threw a high kick, but stopped short when he saw who it was. "Nice to see you too," Yumi remarked sarcastically, though she wasn't mad.

"Hey Yumi, we can't find Aelita," Odd shouted. "But I think Kiwi has her scent."

* * *

Aelita opened the door and enter the house. The place was a mess, full of dust and cobweb. As she entered what she believed was the living room, she got another vision. The house was clean and livable. On the grand piano was a man with grey hair and a lab coat. He was playing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. He turned and Aelita saw he had thick round glasses and a bushy mustache and beard. Then the vision faded. She turned around and scream as a black, shadowy figure was upon her.

* * *

"What do ya mean you haven't found her yet?" Jeremy exclaimed over the phone. "She could be in danger!"

"Relax Einstein," Odd said. "Kiwi caught her scent. He lead us to this abandoned house. I'm sure she's inside, we just need to go get her."

"Well hurry. I don't know what XANA's attack is, but it's sure to be dangerous." He hung up.

"Alright, let's head in," Yumi said as she opened the gate. The boys followed her across the lawn and through the door. Once they were all inside, it shut on it's own. Odd tried to open it, but it was locked. Ulrich took out his phone, but there was no signal. Suddenly, a wooden desk rushed at them. They dodged and it collided with the door and broke.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Ulrich asked.

"XANA," Yumi said.

"Aelita must be here," Odd added.

The moved forward, but when they passed the kitchen, knives and forks flew at them. They ducked to avoid them and ran. XANA made more items fly at them, but they successfully avoided them and made it to the basement. They saw Aelita in one room lying on the floor. They rushed to her side. "Don't worry, princess, we got you," Ulrich said as he lifted her up.

The young girl stirred. "Guy's, it's a trap. XANA…"

Just then, the door started to slide shut, but Odd got in the way and held it open, using his foot to hold it back. "Hurry! Get Aelita out!"

Aelita crawled out under his leg, but before Ulrich and Yumi could, the force of the door increased and Odd was forced to move out of the way. Outside the room, they saw a gauge. The temperature inside the room Ulrich and Yumi were trapped in was increasing. "We have to get them out, or they'll be cooked alive!" Odd and Aelita struggled to open the door from one end while Ulrich and Yumi did the same from the other side, but the door refused to budge.

"Forget it! Hurry and get Aelita to the activated tower!" Ulrich ordered. "It's the only way to save us!"

He nodded and ran off with Aelita. When they got to the door leading outside, they found it locked, but were able to force it open when XANA launched a metal cabinet at them. The exited and were about to run into the forest when Aelita looked at another door. She had a vision and saw the man in the lab coat again, going through the door and entering the sewers. "Odd, this way. I think this leads to the sewers."

"What?" Odd looked confused. "What makes you say that?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm certain this will get us to the factory faster." She ran to the door and Odd followed. Her theory proved true as the path did indeed lead to the sewers.

They made it to the factory and took the elevator to the lab, where Jeremy was waiting. "Aelita! Thank goodness you're alright!"

"No time to talk! XANA plans to turn Ulrich and Yumi into dim sum!" Odd said.

"Alright, head to the scanners you two." They nodded and took the elevator down to the scanners and waited for Jeremy to virtualize them.

* * *

Odd and Aelita were virtualized in the Ice Sector. Jeremy virtualized the Overwing and Overboard. "The Overwing is for you Aelita."

"Our taxis are waiting for us. Let's go!" Odd said as he jumped on the Overboard and Aelita boarded the Overwing. The moved down the path. "The tower is just ahead."

"Careful, it's guarded by two Tarantulas," Jeremy warned.

"Two? Great," Odd remarked sarcastically.

"Maybe I can lure away one, then Odd can take care of the other," Aelita offered.

"That'll work."

"What? Aelita, just what are you planning?" Jeremy asked.

"She's gonna steal the show Einstein."

* * *

The temperature rose and sweat poured from Ulrich and Yumi's bodies. It got so hot that they were forced to discard their shirts, leaving Yumi's upper torso covered only by her black bra and Ulrich's bare. They sat back to back so Ulrich couldn't see her. Silence ensued until Ulrich decided to speak up. "So, uh…"

"You're mad I didn't tell you about William, aren't you?" She couldn't see his face, but could guess he was surprised. "Don't think I didn't notice you spying on us." Ulrich hung his head. "Still, I should have told you about him sooner."

"Yeah, that would have been better," Ulrich said.

* * *

Aelita flew the Overboard toward the monsters, then turn right and away. "Hey there, my little monster friends. Catch me if you can!" she taunted, waving as she flew off. The two Tarantulas looked at each other, communicating through a series of grunt noises, before one moved to purse her. As the chase went on, the monster would get on it's hind legs and shoot off four lasers. Aelita dodged the attacks. However, one hit her vehicle, devirtualizing it and sending her tumbling on the ice. The Tarantula moved to catch up and Aelita got back on her feet and ran until she reached the edge of the Ice Sector. The Tarantula sat before her and prepared to fire when Odd came from the edge on the Overboard and shot at the monster with every arrow he had, hit it all over, including the Eye of XANA symbol on it's head and destroying it.

"Looks like these monsters aren't invincible after all," Odd said, pride evident in his voice. "Hey Einstein, need a reload here."

"Give me some time," Jeremy said.

"Aelita, wait for my signal, then run into the tower." Aelita nodded in affirmation as Odd raced back to the tower.

* * *

"Yu… Yumi…" Ulrich said, the intense heat getting to him. "I gotta know, are you… are you and William…"

"No," Yumi replied, also feeling the affects. "We're just… friends." She and Ulrich passed out.

* * *

"Hey ugly!" Odd shouted as he approached the Tarantula. It looked at Odd for a moment before firing at him. Odd moved out of the way on his Overboard and traveled around the tower. The Tarantula continued to bombard him with lasers.

"Ok, you've got full ammo now Odd," Jeremy said.

"Good." Odd started flying off, away from the tower, shooting at the Tarantula in order to get it to follow. It worked and the Tarantula ran after him. "Now Aelita!"

Aelita ran from her hiding spot toward the tower. The Tarantula was about to turn back, but Odd kept shooting at it. Luckily, Jeremy gave him a lot more arrows. He continued to shoot at the Tarantula, flying around it to avoid the lasers it was firing. However, one laser bolt hit the Overboard, devirtualizing it and sending Odd to the ground. He quickly got up and saw Aelita enter the tower.

Aelita moved to the center, then levitated to the second platform and accessed the interface. She entered the code 'Lyoko' and deactivated the tower.

* * *

Jeremy hit a key. "Return to the Past, now."

* * *

The group had returned from their field trip. As expected, Jeremy and Aelita got the highest grade. Surprisingly, Odd and Ulrich weren't near the bottom due to Odd's superb drawing skills. Sissi, however, got a zero due to drawing plants that Mrs. Hertz knew weren't native to the area.

"I checked out that house, the Hermitage. It's back to normal," Jeremy told the others in the courtyard.

"It's strange that I had vision of it though," Aelita said.

"And the secret passage to the factory that you knew about," Odd added.

"And the weirdest thing is, I feel like I've been there before," Aelita mentioned. "But that's impossible."

"Looks like we've got ourselves a mystery," Yumi said.

"By the way Aelita." The pink-haired girl turned to Jeremy, who pulled a present out of his bag. "This is for you."

"For me?" Jeremy nodded as he handed her the gift. She opened it to see it was a cellphone.

"Now you can call me, err, us, if we're not around." She opened the box and held out her new phone. It was pink. "I thought the color suited you."

"Thank you Jeremy." She hugged him briefly before showing the others her new phone.

* * *

Alpha: Hmm…

Jeremy: Somethin on your mind?

Alpha: Just wondering what I'd look like on Lyoko.

Jeremy: Trust me, you're better off imagining it than finding out.

Alpha: Why? Was your avatar that bad?

Jeremy: I'd rather not talk about it.

Alpha: That's Jim's line.

Jeremy: Well, it fits.

Aelita: You know, I never did see what you look like there, Jeremy.

Jeremy: And I plan to keep it that way.

Aelita: Actually, I was thinking of going there with you. Just the two of us.

Alpha: I'll just take my leave then. (Leaves)

Jeremy: I'm not going.

Aelita: Please?

Jeremy: No.

Aelita: Please?

Jeremy: No.

Aelita: (Snuggles into his arm and gives him puppy dog eyes) Pleeease?

Jeremy: (Tries to resist but fails) Fine. But just… Don't laugh.

Aelita: I'll try. (Drags him off)


End file.
